The Santa Barbara Volleyball Club’s 15-Smack team coasted through the competition at the first qualifying round for the Southern California Volleyball Association this past weekend, taking first place and earning a bye for the second qualifying round.
The team started out the day with a strong service effort, handling Golden West 15-Black 25-8, 25-14. The team moved on to another equally lopsided affair against Sports Shack 15-BL, winning 25-12, 25-15. A solid 25-16, 25-21 win over a balanced Bakersfield Jamba 15-Sam squad closed out the day with a 3-0 record in matches.
“All in all, a well-managed day with a great team effort and contributions from all players,” said coach Dwayne Hauschild.
Also in the Gold Division, John Sener’s 15-White team barely dropped the first match to OCVB 15-Blue, the No. 2 seed overall,24-18 and 26-24. The team rebounded to defeat Mizuno LB 15-Runbird and Epic 15-2, going 2-1 to place 2nd for the day.
“Consistently being the smaller team on the court, this group of players stood toe-to-toe with two other physically taller teams and played stellar defense matched with strong setting and timely hitting,” Sener said.
The team also earned a bye for the second qualifying round.
The 15-Red team, competing in the Silver Division, went 1-2 for the day and took third place. Coaches Mickey Caughey and Leigh Stephenson gave kudos to the overall play and teamwork of the team.
“The team did great!” Coach Stephenson said.
After losing a tight first match to Nevada Jrs 15s in three games, they bounced back to beat Formula 1 15-Jaguars in three games. The team lost a close final match to Reef 15-Vanessa.
This coming weekend, the Santa Barbara 13s and 14s teams take to the courts for their debut, while the 12-Smack, 17-Smack and 18-White head into their 2nd qualifying rounds.
